Monday, October 06, 2008

The clip opens with a group of camouflage-clad adolescents from a charterschool repeatedly chanting "Alpha! Omega!" as they march into a room. (A lefty commentator somewhere said that the order was reversed. Whatever.) The kids stop, and each in turn stands aside and, with his arms held almost genie-like, aloft, says, "Because of Obama, I am inspired to be the next [fill in an occupation here]."

Next, they chant through a litany of things (e.g., "take responsibility for our own lives") in between refrains of "Yes we can!"

Their "education", if the above terminology and this absurd exercise are representative of it, has consisted primarily of memorizing political slogans instead of developing mental acuity, and in acquiring muscle memory for bizarre poses in between Twinkies instead of achieving actual physical fitness.

Yes they can! But not for much longer under that kind of tutelage.

Or under a regime that threatens to be as hostile, if not more so, to freedom of speech than John McCain's:

When an outside group ran TV ads pointing out links between Obama and the former Weatherman terrorist Bill Ayers, the Obama campaign asked the Bush Justice Department -- yes, that Bush Justice Department, the fount of all evil -- to open a criminal investigation.

The Obama campaign's effort dovetails with the work of an outfit called Accountable America, run by a former MoveOn.org operative. It is devoted to threatening conservative donors with legal action and exposure of any embarrassing details of their private lives if they give money to groups running ads against Obama. The New York Times account says the group hopes to create "a chilling effect," but the phrase is used non-pejoratively. [bold and some formatting added]

The apparently thoroughly-forgotten Founders of our nation took pride in "a government of laws, not men" for good reason: They understood the advantages of living under laws that not only protected individual rights, but were understood by the people in advance -- rather than the whims of an absolute ruler.

They also understood the value of freedom of speech, which such a government protects. What will become of these unfortunate boys if their minds somehow survive a childhood of indoctrination, only to find themselves threatened for expressing an opinion that might endanger the grip on power of some politician? What kind of nation uses speech as a means of enforcing conformity rather than as a means of uncovering the truth through debate?

Man must be able to think and act on his judgement to survive. A nation that destroys the minds of its children and forbids intelligent discussion among any remaining adults is doomed because man, having no instincts, cannot function on the animal level.

And yet, before this election and, if we are lucky, over the next four years, the exercise of freedom of speech is all we are going to have to beat back the advance of tyranny. The behavior in this video is shocking and pitiable, but at least there is no coordinated effort on the part of the state to foster it as there eventually could be under the national "service" initiative that Obama's "opponent" favors.

In one month, the United States of America is almost certain to elect the worst President in its history.

-- CAV

Updates

Today: Reposted video, which had been taken down (HT: Andrew Dalton). Also, the "teacher" who produced it has been suspended, according to Fox News.

16 comments:

What's even scarier is that if we don't start changing the fundamental ideology of American culture within, say, 20-30 years, then in 2048 we may look back at the 2008 choice between McCain and Obama with longing at how relatively good things were back then compared to the dire situation of 2048.

This Obama supporter video is a contender for being worse (I can't decide):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTBq_ybkBmI&feature=related

The naked authority-worship it teaches these children is something reminiscent of youth "movements" in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, or today's North Korea where children sing songs praising their "Dear Leader."

"When an outside group ran TV ads pointing out links between Obama and the former Weatherman terrorist Bill Ayers, the Obama campaign asked the Bush Justice Department -- yes, that Bush Justice Department, the fount of all evil -- to open a criminal investigation."

If there's anyone likely to appease and cave into the irrational demands of the Left and to accept their premises - well, it is the Bush Administration.

first, you people are forgetting they're at an authoritarian leadership acadamey. that they're wearing fatigues and doing thier little dance has been lost on some people apparently. And that people say 'THIS' ecapsulates our race towards moscow have clearly missed thousands of signs on this path. This is a hydrogen molecule in a bucket of water.

secondly, i don't think it's bad that young black men have a person to look up to as an academic success. it is certainly better than the jesse jackson NAACP nonsense that we've heard in the past. there are clearly worse.

Good news is, I picked up my first copy of OS at Barnes & Nobles today. Maybe this is why I'm in such a good mood! :)

Anon, your comment makes almost no sense. All I will do is ask: (1) why a black kid can't look to men of other races for inspiration (as Eddie Murphy does, to great effect I might add, Peter Sellers), (2) how a politician with almost no record of achievement is all that inspirational, and (3) how a bunch of kids who have doubtless no understanding of political philosophy are competent to judge Obama's "health care" plan.

And Jim, your points are spot-on as always. Sadly, examples of why America is in its terrible predicament seem always to be at hand.

Easy Gus. Try to avoid the cognitive dissonance if you can to read the following:

1. I never said blacks kids couldn't look to men of other races, so thanks for putting words in my mouth and telling me I don't make sense. My point was made on the premise that for the most part, young black men today don't look to white adults for inspiration. Not that they can't, they just don't. I didn't see millions of black kids screaming alliegance to John Kerry, did you? I would love to hear of kids having posters of Milton Friedman in thier bedrooms, but that just isn't so. Nor will it be, I'm afraid. Why Obama is a decent role model is because he breaks away from the get-rich-quick mentality that looks to be the cornerstone of todays adolescents. His life, from what I've read, was mostly a pursuit of academics, and being mostly successful in that pursuit. I find that the main reason why adolescents these days do so poorly is not because they have inadequate resources, it is because they lack the drive to learn. So few black men have achieved success in academics while also being in the media spotlight. I'd prefer Sowell myself, but Sowell is hardly ever on television anymore. In contrast to rappers and athletes, I think Obama works just fine as an inspiration. Nor did I end my statement by saying Obama is the ONLY person they could look up to; so I think you're stopped from bring this up as well, as I assume you will. Again, if you're asserting that petulent street philosophy is prefered to pursuit and success in rigorous academic studies, be my guest. Maybe I'm mistaken and you're trying to suggest that young black men should look to McCain as inspiration...why he did pretty well at the Academy, and did well on his own merits? I won't suppose this is what you're saying unless you do actually say it.

(2) No record of achievement? Graduating from harvard law is not an achievement? This is certainly news to me. If you think otherwise, do let me know. I'd be interested in hearing why a person who succedes on the merits of his abilities has not achieved anything. Being black can't make your scores improve on blind-graded tests. I think we'd be a lot better off if there were more black Objectivists out there, but frankly, I don't know a single one. I think this is something that should be considered by ARI. They send out numerous copies of Atlas Shrugged; perhaps they could direct them to inner city schools?

(3) I'm not sure where you read 'health care plans' in my post, perhaps its wishfull thinking. I don't think these kids know little if anything about political philsophy. That said, I'm not sure how we disagree on this.

Assuming arguendo that they do know something about political philosophy, I think it is better that, as young not-as-of-age-to-vote-yet teenagers, they are embracing complex political topics is preferable to making the choice not to think at all.

Nobody can flip the switch to make an unthinking brute become a studied Objectivist. I took more than a day to learn the principles of Objectivism, and certainly longer to begin applying them. If I had remained an unthinking fundamentalist christian who was opposed to open discussion, I would not come here and say what I have said thus far: rather, it is likely that I would have said obama is the antichrist or a muslim, or rather something more worthy of your, "makes almost no sense" attacks.

One last thing, I do agree that Obama seems to be pushing an authoritarian agenda, but the last 6 years have been about governmental worship and mindless nationalism. It reminds me of a picture I saw recently, McCain shouting, "NATIONAL socialism" while Obama was shouting, "national SOCIALISM". If McCain wins, he will perpetuate the belief that the Republican part is the prime advocate of National Socialism. At the same time, I think the Republicans are the only ones who can get us out of this mess. Yet, it is not this present assortment of Republicans who can. I strongly believe that we need to cut the cancerous big-government social conservatives out of the party, but this can't happen if McCain wins. If he wins, the McBama duopoly continues, but if he loses, the conservatives are going to pull back from the left-moving GOP and move full force towards the limited-government and fiscal conservative end. One step back, two steps forward.

If, as you point out, these kids are at an "authoritarian leadership academy", how can you assert later that they are "embracing complex political topics"? Furthermore, few children that age have the conceptual framework, knowledge, or life experience to even really BEGIN to think coherently about subjects -- like the Obama "Health Care" plan mentioned in the video

As for blacks (on the whole?) simply failing to look up to men of other races, that may be true, but the solution isn't to hold up as an example a black man who, although he may have graduated from Harvard Law School and headed its law journal, hasn't much of an academic record or who, although he's running for President, has been busy destroying America with socialism when he hasn't simply been voting "present" in his short time in office.

And as for a McCain loss causing the GOP to suddenly reform (per your closing paragraph or so), that is wrong, too. The GOP may not learn ANYTHING if they lose, or they could carry away the wrong lessons. What not having McCain in office will do for the cause of individual rights will be to make it harder to blame "capitalism" through a GOP proxy for the problems of the next Presidential term.